I don't buy the idea that it's _EVER_ OK for rear brakes to fail this bad, this soon
thanks for the suggestions--
but basically, I return to the fact that, apparently, in anything other than sheltered suburban driving conditions, rear disc brakes apparently suck, in terms of their reliability, compared to rear drums
which is basically a scam in a vehicle marketed and sold with AWD for harder climates and driving conditions.
here's what I have owned and/ or regularly driven over the years, in sequence--
77 chevy caprice wagon- front discs, rear drums, never needed brakes touched or even looked at, front or back, for 85k. I was a teen, and drove it like a teen, and it never minded a bit. best car I have ever owned and driven, and if I could get the same thing, low mileage, no rust, now, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. V8 with tons of power and room and comfort for passengers and stuff that got between 17-19mpg!!!
63 Plymouth Valiant. 200+k miles on it (odometer had broken with 212k) with bird turds etched into the paint. Looked worse than AWFUL. Worked great. Built the top end of the motor and intake system and drag raced it at stoplights in the slums of Asbury Park NJ when I was an itchy teen. Drums front and back, no power brakes. Took a lot of foot on the pedal to make the thing stop, but it always stopped, with no problems, and no need, ever, for one dollar or one minute to make those crude drum brakes do their basic job.
77 chevy Vega, stock, the car my grandmother bequeathed to me with only 8500 miles (all garaged little ol lady miles) on it, basically, the whole car sucked to its core, and I couldn't wait to get rid of it; I don't think I put 1500 miles on it before I sent it down the road, so no basic sense on whether its brakes sucked as badly as all the other parts that pathetically- and truly- fell apart around me, rapidly, as I drove it.
86 mazda 323- flawless factory front discs and rear drums for 8 years & 45k; never needed to even think of them
91 ford ranger 2wd, front discs, rear drums, flawless factory brakes for 82k, living a life where I stupidly lived at ends of remote largely unmaintained Vermont roads with a 2wd truck where I needed to climb under the truck and put tire chains on to even stand a remote chance of getting home after work during the winter. Road conditions were so bad that my rocker panels were blasted down to bare steel after one winter, just from the abrasive crud all around me as I tried to get back and forth. But the brakes never needed a moment of TLC for 82k.
95 toyota pre-Tacoma 4x4- front discs, rear drums, flawless brakes for 82k, same driving and living conditions as the Ford Ranger, only I didn't have to climb under the truck to put tire chains on it.
moved to a place where I live on a well maintained paved road...
99 ford F250 super duty, rear discs sh___t the proverbial bed at 9800 miles- is this what you call "super duty?" After the hubs and transfer case also sh___t the proverbial bed at 21,000, I sent it packin, and have henceforth referred to it as the SuperDooDoo
'02 Toyota Tacoma Quad Cab. burned gas like it thought it was a full size (16 mpg city or highway in a little V6 truck with anemic acceleration is a really sad and bad joke), but its front discs and rear drums were flawless for 75 k
'06 Dodge Cummins 2500 4x4. most flawless vehicle I've ever owned, except I had the bad luck to buy a diesel right as the big oil companies decided to hose diesel owners, despite the fact that diesel is easier and cheaper to refine than gasoline. no problems with brakes for the 15 k I owned it, and I worked it WAY harder than any vehicle I owned before or since (towing and hauling some pretty big stuff), 'cause I knew it was up to it, and decided to put it to use 'cause I had it and it was built for it.
07 Element. Great vehicle, and I've generally pampered it a lot more than anything else I have owned because it's just really endearing and lovably functional, even if not in a heavy-duty way. BUT if its rear brakes go toes up this easily and often, with much lighter driving, road conditions, and use than most other vehicles I've owned, then that, to me, with reference to the points of comparison above, points, in NEON lights, to bad design and corner-cutting on the design and manufacture of the rear brakes.